HIGHLY QUALIFIED

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The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), places a major emphasis upon the importance of teacher quality in improving student achievement. School districts are required to work with the State Education Agency (SEA) to help ensure that all teachers of core academic subjects and all paraprofessionals meet highly qualified standards.

Highly Qualified Teachers
To be “highly qualified”, teachers are required to demonstrate competency by meeting the following criteria:

Holding a Bachelor’s degree or higher; and

Holding full North Carolina State Teaching Certification; and

Having a major, or coursework equivalent to a major (24 semester hours), from an accredited four-year college(s) or university in the assigned core content area; or holding an advanced degree in that content area; or holding National Board Certification in that content area; or having passed the PRAXIS II in that content area.